


Thick as Thieves

by citysonfire



Series: 15genres1prompt [8]
Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-29
Updated: 2013-03-29
Packaged: 2017-12-06 21:47:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/740508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/citysonfire/pseuds/citysonfire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Western AU. Stark and Barton are two extreme personalities; they were destined to become best friends or worst enemies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thick as Thieves

When Barton and Stark came together for the first time the townspeople knew there would be fireworks but of what sort they couldn’t have guessed. Two extreme personalities with a disregard for the law could only end in disaster.

Like any good first meeting it happened in Natasha’s saloon. There were punches thrown and glasses smashed before Natasha kicked both their asses and threw them out. They ended up laughing together in the dirt.

Stark rolled over to face Barton and held out a hand, “Tony Stark, the richest bastard you’ll ever meet.”

Clint grinned and took his hand, “Clint Barton, the best shot in the county.” They pulled themselves to their feet, “Wanna make the locals nervous?” Clint asked with a wicked smile.

“Right there with you partner,” Tony led the way back into the saloon, pulling up a stool at the bar with Barton and gave Natasha his most charming smile. “Two glasses of your finest whiskey and leave the bottle.”

Natasha rolled her eyes before getting the drinks, “Which one of you is paying for the damages?” Her voice leaving no room for arguments.

“Stark will get it this time,” Clint smirked, “As he has far more money than I could ever dream of.”

Stark laughed and elbowed Clint in the side, “Put it on my tab, I’ll settle up tomorrow.”

“You better,” Natasha left them to it. They sat there and drank and laughing all night, raised voices putting the rest of the occupants on edge.

After that night the two of them became inseparable, very rarely would anyone see one without the other. Unless it was Stark having to go and bail Barton out of jail, but both of them knew that Barton kept ending up behind bars due to his love of baiting Sheriff Coulson.

Sometimes they both end up in jail together, sharing a cell and causing Coulson to wish he had a bigger prison. Those times they had to wait until Miss Potts, Tony’s oldest friend to bail them out, sometimes they were waiting for a while as she’d be looking after Tony’s fortune.

They didn’t just stay in town, Clint often got bored of the same place he needed to travel to see what’s out there and Tony went with him. Together they were some of the most loved outlaws that the county had ever seen. With Tony’s brains (when he wasn’t drunk out of his mind) and Clint’s sharp aim they could rob you blind without laying a finger on you. They never killed, occasionally they were forced to wound whoever was in their way but Clint never shot to kill.

They became heroes to the town, even when there’s a large bounty on their heads Coulson doesn’t take them in. Though saying that, he’d sometimes still arrest Barton but that’s a whole other story.

They were too similar to never have fights, they were very rare but when they happened everyone dived for cover. The residents of the town rarely saw the fights themselves, since the first one between the two of them any disagreement they had was in private. That’s not to say that they never saw the aftermath.

Tony would arrive in the saloon, wearing a black eye, a split lip and a bandage wrapped round his arm, there he’d stay drinking until either Natasha refused to serve him or Miss Potts took him home. They wouldn’t see Clint at all; they’d be talks of him riding out at first light hunched over the saddle. Usually he’d be back in a few days, no longer than a week at most and it would be as if nothing had happened between the pair.

The townspeople just guessed that was how it was going to be if two people had such clashing personalities.


End file.
